Machine for soaping heavy woolen fabrics



July 12, 1932. C; WOELFEL 1,867,127

MACHINE FOR SOAPING HEAVY WOOLEN FABRICS Filed April 2, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l I VVENTOI? GebgeMe/fe/j WITNESS I 5y July 12, 1932. G. VTIOELFEL MACHINE FOR SOAPING HEAVY WOOLEN FABRICS Filed April 2, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOI? fiTTaR/VEY Patented July 12, 1932 1 wires s'rrss GEORGE WOELFEL; OF YERKES; PENNSYLVANIA MACHINE r03. soerme HEAVY wooLEn FABRICS Application filed April 2',

This invention relates to a mechanism and device for assisting the operator of sald machine in manually lifting and drawing the heavy slippery soap-filled goods fromsa-id machine; to remove from the goods a substantial quantity of liquid soap and to leave therein a quantity of liquid soap sufiicient to remove the soil in the goods during the next subsequent step in the process of cleansing the same,--withou.t subjecting the fibers there' of to anysubstantial pulling or stretching operation or toany attrition which tends to cause the fibers to felt and thegoods to shrink.

The apparatus constituting the present invention is, in many details, fully shownand described in Letters Patentofjthe United States, No. 1,711,162, granted to me April 30, 1929, and the present application constitutes a continuation in part of the application upon which issued said Letters Pate ent and which was copending at the time when the present application was :filed.

One of theobjects oi the present invent-ion is to provide asoaping machine; with'means controlled by the foot of the operator for assistin g the operator to draw, with his hands the heavy slippery soap-filled goods-from a liquid soap bath without stretching or tearing the fabric and to simultaneously express therefrom some oft-he liquid soap contained therein but leaving in the goods enough liquid soap to hold the particles of soiled solid'matter in suspension in' the soap contained in the goods.

A further object of my invention is to provide a soaping machine with a pair of rollers between which the goods may be drawnby the operator in removm g the goods from the bath of soap, one of said rollers being mount ed in a fixed relation with respect to the soaping machine and the other being yieldingly held. out of contact or engagement with said first-mentioned roller and yieldingly held by the foot of the operator against the top surface oi the goods drawn betweenthe rollers to express from the goods a substantial portion of the liquid soap contalned therein and leave in the goods suificient amount of soap to hold the solid particles loosened from the;

fibers bythe soap in suspension in said liquid so i e I A further object of my invention is to so mount one of the rollers of a pair of rollers,

through whichthegoods'are drawn in remy moving'the same from the'soapi'ng machine, in yielding bearings which will permit the V roller to rise and fall with respect to the other rollerand to the goods passing-between saidrollers andtomovefinto' position in which no theaxis of the "'roller' is not parallelto the aXis'of the other roller in order that said firstmentioned roller may tip and slant and conform to different thicknesses of material passing between the rollers simultaneously.

A further object of my invention is to provide a soaping' machine with a roller, power driven; and'pr'ovided with a relatively smooth surface and with a coacting roller, the posi-;

tion of 'whichis'controlledby the foot or" I the operator and movable toward and'faway from said first mentioned roller whereby any excessive pull on the goods being removed. from the soaping machlne may be prevented by the operator and any wear onor stretch 75 of the goods is prevented. 1 7 I A further object is 'to provide a device givingthe operator standing in front of the troughffree and unmolested access to the inner casing, and totherear sides of therollso ers, by reaching over thetrough and rollers into the casing, whereby'an end of the soa ed goods ina-y be grasped and ea'sil'y placed. etween the rollers which are normally main-' tained'ratherwidelyseparated; a

0. her objects of my invention will appear in the specification'and claimsbel'ow. o

In the drawings forming a'part of-thisspecification and in whichjth'e sameparts are designated by-the same reference char- 9 acters throughout the-various vie'ws',l 7 Figulis an end elevational view of the soaping machine with myimprovements. i Fig, 2 is a vertic'al cross sectional Viewv through the machine show-nin Fig. 1.

a front elevational viewofthe machine equipped with improvements.

Figeisa fragmentary: plan view of one end of the trough aforfreturningzthe soap I the soaping machine and clearly shown on an I enlarged scalethe mounting for the upper roller.

V "shrinking ofithe fabric which is very unde- Fig. is a Vertical sectional view on the same scale as that of Fig. 4:, showingthe manher of mounting the rollers and the connections therefor for positioning the upper roll.-

er with respect to the lower roller during the operation of the mechanism. 7 s

Fig. 6 is an elevationalview of the bearing bracket and resilient guide rod, looking in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig.5.

In order that the purpose andadvantages of the present invention may be manifest', I

will briefly describe my process of cleaning heavy woolen fabrics without subjecting the fibers to attrition and without causing the goods to shrink. 7

When. one attempts to remove from a heavy woolen fabric,s-uch as a blanket, dirt or soil by the use of attrition or rubbing in the presenceof-soa'py water, the adhesion of the dirt andsoil to the fibers is not com- 25,

pletel-y. or sufliciently broken, with the result that the dirt is distributed over a larger area but is not actually removed and still clings. and adheres to the fibers. The rubbing of the woolen fibers over each other in the presence of-warin soapy vwaterresults in a sirableh subjected to a very strong soap solution, that. I is to say, a strong liquid soap, and preferably I have discovered that such goods be containing an alkali, such as washing soda,

the. adhesion of the dirt to the fibers is broken and that the dirt having been thus loosened or, freed from the fibers does not become reattachedthereto so long .as the solid matter and the fibers are covered With soluble soap.

. The solidmat-ter so freed from the fibers appears to-be held or retained in suspension in the soap, .and when a woolen fabric so filled with strong liquid soap 7 is subsequently rinsed, then the solid matter or dirt suspended in the soapis floated off or carried;

away with the soap,- leaving the fabric extremely clean.

" Butin carryingout this process, care must.

be exercised to'favoid and eliminate a-llvigorous or violent rubbing or agitation'ofthe' or goods. The fabric should be filled with .the liquidsoap, by gently slowly moving the a goods through aqrelatively-darge bath of liquid soap and then gently lifting the goods from the bath and then immersing them in it without subjecting the'fibers to any sub stantial' attrition, and in the subsequent steps of removing the-soap oand-soil in the soap from the goods, the same gentle treatment of repeated immersion and lifting. of the goods out of a bath :of water should'be periormed 7 without rubbing or pulling "thefibers.

7 In carrying:gutmyinvention, it"gpreferably" use a soaping machine A, which may, in general construction, be a rotary hydraulic of a conventional type ofconstruction and I substantially half fill. said machine A with about fifty (50) gallons of warm liquid soap, preferably containing washing soda. I prepare thesoap for this soap bath by boiling a good quality of tallow soap in water, the proportion being substantially five (5) pounds of the the ordinary washing of woolen goods in soapy water and the strength of the soap'i's twoor three times strongertlian that re- ,quired in process for washing blankets in soapy water.

Afterhaving been placedin themachine A, the machine is slowly rotated thereby lif ing the goods from and dipping them into the bath of soap for a period of fr'omlone and. a

half to two minutes. If the soil is not loo se-ned from the fibers within this short time,

the dirt or stain cannot be removed thereby even if allowed to stay for a longer period;

The first step of my improved process is not a washing; it isa soapingstep by which woolen goods arethoroughly filled with liquid soap. The strong liquid soap dissolves", v the adhesive substance by meansofwhich the solid particles of dirt are attached to the fibers. When these solid particles are-once removed they are held in suspension in the liquid soap, and if the liquid soap containing these particles of dirt be .hereafterpassed back and forth and therefore through the 1" soaped fabric, the said particles wil'lnot adhere to the slippery fibersbut will be held in the soap andwill' float out of the fabric as the soap is removed from the fabric.

The soaping' machine A preferably -com prises an inner perforated orforaminous cylinder 1, journaled coaxially within outer cylinder or casing 2, the ends of which are closedby the heads 1, 1'. I-prefe'r to divide the inner cylinder 1 into two like compar ments '3 and 4 respectively by a perforated partition 5 extending diametrically across and for the full length of the rotating cylinder '1 and I providethe periphery of the inner cylinder 1 Witha suitable door or closure 6 giving-access to both'of the compartments (3 and 4:) 111 the inner cylinder 1 and formed by the partition 5. This door or closure 6 may be tightly heldin place to close the cylinder in any suitable manner. The cylindrical surface of the casing 1, the partitlon 5 and the closure -6 are preferably-provided. withper- "forations 7. '7

in each compartmentI preferably place a pairof blankets', thus treatingtwo pairs of blankets at once in the machine. The cylin der 1 is then rotated at a rather slow speed for the very short time of one and a half to two minutes, in which time the' blankets will become thoroughly filled with the liquid soap. The operation of the cylinder is then stopped and the soap-filled blankets are then removed and placed upon a support. Two more pairs are similarly placed in the cylinder 1 and similarly gently soaped for a minute and a half or two minutes. The machine is then stopped and the soaped blankets-are removed. This soaping of the soiled goods for the very short time above indicated constitutes the first step ofmy improved process of cleansing blankets forming the subjectmatter of. my copending application, Serial Number2041:,708, filed July 11,1927. I

Because the perforated partition merely divides the rotating cylinder into'two compartments, the fibers of the goods are not subjected to any substantial attrition or agitation or rubbing action during the rotation of the cylinder. The blankets do not completely fill the compartments; they slowly easily slide as the partition tilts in rotating with the cylinder but are not pulled or squeezed or rubbed by said rotation. The substantial action to which they are subjected is one of alternating gently dipping or immersing the blankets in and moving them through the warm liquid soap, then just as gently lifting them out of the soap, allowing the soap solution to run out of them back into the bath through which the blankets have passed, with the result that the soiled fibers of the blanket are thoroughly covered with slippery undecomposed liquid soap which prevents the readhering thereto of the dirt held in suspension in the soap. The fibers are not rubbed over each other. There 18 no matting or felting of the fibers and conse quently, no shrinkageof the goods.

The next step of my improved process is that of removing the blankets from the soap ing machine A, and it is to this step that the present invention particularly relates. When the rotation of the inner cylinder 1 is stopped, with the door or closure 6 in registration with the opening 8 in the outer cylin der 2 and the removal of said closure 6 gives the operator access vto the blankets in both compartments 3 and i of the inner cylinder 1.

The operator, with his hands, proceeds to draw out of the compartment 3 and end of one pair of blankets. The blankets are now heavy with soap and slippery. It is not easy to liftthe blanket out of the cylinder, nor is it desirable to waste all of the soap which is contained in the blanket. I therefore provide the soaping machine A with a trough-like structure 9 mounted on the outside of the outer casing or cylinder 2 and having the top edges thereof substantially in the horizontal plane.

of the lower edge 8 of the opening 8 in the cylinder 2. This'troughrlike structure 9proje'cts outwardly from the surface of the cylinder 2.0nly a few incheszand is of a depth sufficient within which to mount a long roller 10 approXimately2 inches'in diameter and terminating at each end rather close to the p erably at or. about level with. the top edge of the trough 9-.

Above'this roller 1'01 preferably'mounta second roller 15 of substantially the. same diameter as the roller 10 and in such a way that each end thereof is movable vertically toward and away from the; lower roller 10; I, therefore, mount on the upper edges of the sidewalls 11 of the tank 9 a bracketlfi; one on each wall, said bracket comprising 'a jourinal bearing 17 in whichr'otates thefshaft 18 on which theupper roller 15 is rigidlylmount ed'to turn therewith; From the bearing portion 17 the bracket 'ldextends'cutwardly away from the cylinder 2'of thelsoaping Ina-5 chine.

This bracket 16 is preferably strong and.

stiff and is'providedwith marginal ribs or flanges 19 "extending outwardly from .the edges thereof throughout the entire length of the bracket. The front end16" of the bracket 16 is arranged to normally rest on the upper edge of the side wall 11 and near said end 16 -r the bracket isprovided with a hole 20 elongatedin the direction of the length of .the bracket. Through this opening or hole 20 passes a screw 21 rigidly attached tothe side wall 11. Preferably, the head of this screw is flattened or elongated so that the long di-- mension thereof is greater than the width of the spaces between the ribs or flanges 19, but

ice"

the short dimension is less than the distance I between thev ribs 19" of the bracket/s0 that when the long dimension of the head 22 is lengthwise of the bracket arm, the frontend 16 of the bracket is rather'loosely attached to the trough 9 and. may be liftedvertically a'distance substantially equal to the height of the ribs 19. p

Between the elongated opening20 and the journal bearing 17, the bracket 16 is provided withanother h0le23 adapted to receive the 3 upperthreaded end 24 of'the rod 25. After the upper end of the rod 25 has been pushed upwardly through the hole 23, a washerj-26 may be slipped over the rod and then alnut" may be threaded over the .upper end 24.,as

clearly shown in Fig. 6. There are two of these rods 25, one on each side of the machine,

e ward travel ofthe rods 25' due to the arcuate 'path of the movement of the roller toward I respectively, and their upper ends press c against-the under surface of the bracket 16 one for each bracket 16 and they pass through holesc28, 28 extending substantially vertically through the side walls 11 of the trough 9.

' These holes are preferably elongated ina direction toward and away from the cylinder 2,

o and the'smaller dimension thereof should be a little greater than the diameter of the rods 25. The'upper ends 28 of the holes 28 may 7 also he elongated in a directiongtoward and 5 away from the casing 2, but the said upper ends are of larger diameter than the lower portion of the 'hole28 to provide a shoulder 29 in the hole'for seating the lower end of a stiff spiral spring- 30 and a washer 30 and to provide space above said shoulder for the reception of the spring 30. The elongation of the hole 28 is to permit of a'slight back and forandaway from the roller 10. r

The spiral springs 30 each surround a rod thus normallyholding the-journal 17. of the bracket 16' and roller 15 carried thereby in their uppermost position with the uppersur- 7 face of the bracket '16 pressed firmly against the under surface of the washer 26 under the V nut 27 and against the head of the screw 22.

The front end 16 of thebracket 16 is'thus the only portion of the bracket 16 which nor- :mally may rest against theupper edge of the side walls 11. These substantially vertical Qrods 25 pass loosely through the openings'28 -in the side wallsill and extend downwardly to' a point allittlei above the floor where they are connec'ted'together bya stiff transverse outwardly to a position wliere'the free end the pedal is suitably pivotally or hingedly '25 V This"transverse 1 chine.

bar 31 which may 'be integral with the rods bar 31 is preferably rotatably secured to'the under side of a pedal 32, as by staples 33. a The pedal 32 extends thereof is accessible to the operatorstanding in front of thetrough 9, and the rear end of connected to some rigid support as, for instance, a bracket 34 mounted on the under side of the outer casing 2 of the soaping ma- The pedal 32 maybe operated, as in my said copending application, by the operators foot placed upon the upper surface of the pedal. I may, however,'hang from the front I "longitudinally depressed flutes or ridges 35.

end of the pedal 32 a flexible strap providing astirrup 32, in i'vhi'ch theoperator may place his foot inorder to depress the said lever to 7 bring the 'roller15 into a positionbelow its normal elevated one. 7 a r The upper roller 15 maybe provided with The outer end of the shaft 13on which the 'lower end of the roller 10 is mounted,,may

beprovided witha pulley 36 over'whichruns l a belt 37 driven from any suitable source of power as, for instance, an electric motor 38 indicated in Fig. 1, having a drive pulley 38. 1 f p Since it isnecessary for the operator to have free access'to both sides of the roller, I y

arrange the .belt 37 to run downwardly from the pulley 36 so as to leave a clear space between the rollers 10 and 15 and the outer cyli-nder 2, :and a clearispace above the'roller 15.

I, therefore, have shown the. vbelt 37 as .run-

'ning :under idlers 39 mounted on the side of mg machine A.

This roller mechanism last above described, constitutes a mechanism whereby to assist the operator in withdrawing the heavy slipper soap-filled goods from the interior of the soaping machine A, and it provides, at the any excess of liquid soap which is not'needed in the'next or subsequent step-of the-process. In the practice of my invention, all the soap not'needed for the extraction or removal of the dirt from the goods, is extracted or expressed from the goods. Only enough -is left in the goods to keepwhatever dirt remains in the goods in suspension in the liquid soap.

To remove the goods from the rotary cylini der 1, the operator passes his. arms over the roller 15 into the "inner cylinder 1, and finding an end or a. part which he can grasp despite-the slippery condition of the goods, he draws that portion upwardly into a positi-on between the rollers 10, 15, the upper roller being held separated from and above the lower roller 10'by the tension spring 30.

He now presses downwardly onthe pedal 32 with one foot, placing his foot either on the top side of the pedal 32, or putting hisfoot into the stirrup 32', the latter giving him a; little more lateral freedom when he is the machine. The "downward movementof the pedal 32 brings-the upper flu-ted roller 15 down against the upper surface of the goods now betweenthe rollers 10, 15, but the operator continues to manually draw the goods between the rollers outwardly from the casing. Thelowerroller is slowly driven V obliged to workat one or the other ends of by the motor 35 in a direction to assist in 1 drawing the goods out of the soaping ma chine. Theupper roller 10 is but a presser roller and the operator mayreadily vary the pressure of his foot on the pedal 32 and per mit of the application of onlyas much pressure on the upper surface of the goods ashe needs to assist him in gently drawing the goods out of the soapingmachine;

same time, a means to remove from the goods The goods come out of the soaping chine in varying thicknesses depending upon the way in which they may lie in the machine.

The thickness of the goods at one end of the upper roller 15 is journaled to rotate in the bearing 17, the bracket 16 is not rigidly mounted or secured to the trough. It may rock slightly transversely, so that the axis of the shaft 18 may make a positive angle to the axis of the shaft 13, and, as fast as the operator removes the pressure of his footfromthe pedal 32, just so fast does the spring 30 force the upper roller 15 upwardly away from the roller 10.

The rollers 10, 15 are substantially longer than the length of the opening 12 in the rotary cylinder 2 in order that the goods shall always come out of the machine between the rollers and not be caught and wrapped around the end of the rollers, for this would tear, stretch and possibly ruin the goods.

In order to further insure that the goods may never extend beyond the ends of the rollers 10 and 15, I mount a pair ofguard or protector plates 40 between the ends of the said rollers and the inner sides of the side walls 11 of the trough. These guard plates are provided with a pair of substantially p alined slots 41 and 42, the lower slot 41 beof a'width greater than the diameter of the shaft 13, so that the guard may be slipped down over the end of the shaft to the upper end of theslot 41, the upper slot 42 being adapted to loosely receive the upper shaft 18. The upper slot 42 may be considerably longer than the'lower slot so as to permit the upper shaft 13 to rise and fall during the operation of the machine without rising out of the slot 42. p The length of the upper slot 42 is greater than the vertical travel of the upper shaft 13 as raised and lowered by the foot pedal and spring. The forward edges of each plate 40, that is to say, the edges nearest the cylinder of the soaping machine A, a-re preferably provided with inwardly extending flanges 43 to guide and hold the goods away from the ends of the rollers. V

The liquid soap which is expressed from the goods and falls into the trough 9 passes through an opening 44 at the bottom of the troughback into the bath of soap within the outer cylinder 2 of the machine. may provide the outer cylinder 2 with a pipe 45 and, a valve therein, for draining the contents of the outer cylinder when desired. In order to maintain the soap at the desired temperature,

I preferably provide a live steam pipe 46 and ,a coil or radiator 47 lying near the bottom of the outer cylinder and between it and the inner cylinder controlled by avalve 48 l It is to be understood that the liquid soap which I use, becomesthickwhen cool and practicallysolidifies so that it is unfit for use in my machine unless thetemperature is maintained at substantially 106 F.

The inner cylinder 1 is to'be rotated ata low speed and have shown a shaft 49,upon which said cylinder is mounted to rotate, as

being driven by a pair of pulleys 50, 50. W 1th a'looseone 51 between them so that by shifting a straight and crossed belt. (not shown), I may'rotate thecylinder first in one direction and then in the opposite direction.

Any suitable mechanism, however, may be employed to rotate the cylinder 1 slowly at which speed'the woolen goods will not be particularly agitated or rubbed and the soap will not be violently forced through the goods by centrifugal force and the goodswill be gently submerged and as gently lifted out of r the bath whereby the soap will thoroughly permeate the goods and the dirt will float away with the soap when the soap is extracted from the goods or dissolved out of them.

I preferably provide the rod 25 with a collar 52 which may be freely slid longitudinally of the rod 25and held in any fixed or, predeterminedposition by a set screw 52' to, limit the upward movement of the roller 15 away from the roller 10 under the influence of the spring 30 in order to prevent the shaft 18 from being forced upwardly above the up.

er end of the guard plate 40.

It will be apparent that if the collar 51 were loosened, the spring would force the shaft 18 upwardly clear to the slot 42 and the guard 40 wouldswing forwardly on the shaft 13 to an inverted position and then fall into said trough were it not for the lugs 53 on the top edges of said brackets 14 projecting inwardly beyond the plane of the adjacent guard 40.

downwardly extending portion 54:passing between the roller 10 and the casing 2; a

coiled portion'54 to provide resiliency and r a substantially horizontal lower end portion 54?. i The bearing plates 14 may each be provided witha socket '55 having a socket hole into which 'saidhorizontal portion 54 fits and in which it is rigidly held by a set screw/v56. The portions 54 and 54 are preferablynormally inclined toward the middle K edges ofthe goods,b ut the resiliency of these members causes; them to vpress back on the goods and force them toward the centerof the rollers thus limiting the extent to which the goods maybe spread laterally in passing between the rollers. Any other suitable resil ientvmember or device may be employed, however, without departlng from the spirltbe taken not to use that dlscolored soap again and scope of my invention.

The smooth driven lower roller 10 is rotated slowly and does not exert very much 7 traotive force upon the slippery blankets'or other goods passing between the rollers and therefore, the rollers will not fpull or tear or stretch the goods between them. If the upper roller is pressed too heavily against the upper surface of the goods passing therebetween, said: roller 10 will slip but will not ull or tear or otherwise injure thev fabric. If too little pressure is exerted on the upper roller, a similar slip of the lower roller will occur, Moreover, the lower roller will generally slip over the undersurface of the goods if the operator is not continually drawing the goods manually outwardly between. the rollers. These rollersare of assistance to theoperator in manually drawing the blank ets out. of the soapingmach'ine. 1 The function of said rollers is more like that of. doctor or scraper rollers which leavea substantial quantity of soap in the goods, than that of wrin er rollers, which express as much as possi le of the liquid content.

I usually place in the soaping machine about fifty gallons of liquid soap and for economic treatment Ipreferably treat at one operation two pairs of double blankets or the equivalent of eight single blankets. I preferably 'leavein each blanket enough soap to thoroughly cleanse the blanket during the next step of the process. After leaving the rollers, two pairs of double blankets,

of average weight, may contain nearly ten (10) gallons of, liquid soap, or speaking genorally, one (1) gallon of liquid soap for each single blanket. It will now be apparent why 1 the-soap-filled goods are not required tobe I to subjected to a heavy pressure and why the goods are drawn manually between the rollers andhow it is that the goods are not subject to any substantial attrition which would tend to felt the fibers.

The excess soap removed from the goods falls into the trough to be used again in connection with the cleanin'g'or cleansing of the next lot of blankets to be treated in the soaping machine. Communication between the trough 9 and the interior ofthe outer cylinder is provided by means of the passage 44 (see Fig. 5),, v p 7 From, time to time and preferably after each removal of a lot of goods whichhavebeen treated in the soaping machine, enough fresh liquid soap should be added to compensate for the loss tothe soap bath of thesoap rema,ining in the blankets or other fabrics after they leave the rollers 10, 15. The soap re-l maining in the soapingmachine is used over and over again, subject to replenishment, to keep the quantity substantially up to fifty (50) gallons. It is only when the soap is discolored, as-by soluble dyes from colored goods I that have been treated therein, that care must the solid insoluble matter held in suspension therein, but, on the contrary, continues to produce cleaner, lighter, more fluffy and softer washed goods than was obtainable by the practice of the processes heretofore used. I have found that if goods are allowed to remain in the soap bath for more than two 7 minutes, the soap does not injure the goods nor cause them to shrink, so long as they are not subjected to an agitation or other action of attrition. In using this soaping machine, heavy woolen goods are not pre ceptibly reduced or shrunk or felted, and the colors are often-brightened.

It is not necessary to vary in the days run of work to adapt itto the the soap bath varying degrees to which the goods received from differentsources are soiled. In the practice of my invention this factor does not have to be considered. The same strong soap bath is used'on goods soiled to different degrees and all the goods treated are cleansed perfectly irrespective of their condition of soil. V V V I Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire-to protect by Letters Pat ent of the United States is: j

1. A soap expressing device adapted for use in connection with an elongatedsoaping container having a trough on the'side thereof nearthe top of said container and provided with a drain to said container, comprising the. combination of a'driven roller mounted in said trough with its axis parallel to that of said container and with the upper surface thereof substantially level with the top: edges of said trough, apresser roller arranged substantially parallel to said driven roller, the spaceabove saidrollers being clear -to give the operator free access over said rollers'anto the lnside of said soaping container, means to continuously rotate said driven roller so that goods passing between said rollers will be drawn away from said casing, resilient means normally holding said presser roller substantially spaced away from V the top of said driven roller, foot'operated means to lower said presser roller against the tension of sa d res lient means into engagement with the upper surfaces of any goods the goods between said rollers and said rollers (iii are operative to express liquid soap from said goods without felting the fibres of said goods, and resilient means between s id casing and the ends of said rollers to yieldingly press against the edges of said goods to keep the goods away from the ends of said rollers.

2. In a device for expressing soap from heavy woolen goods and adapted for use m connection with an elongated soaping container having a trough on the side thereof near the top of said container and provided with a drain to said container, the combination of a driven roller having a substantially smooth surface, mounted in the upper part of said trough, a pair of brackets on the'opposite sides of said trough, each being loosely and pivotally mounted at one end so that the bracket is movable toward and away from said container and vertically wlth respect to said trough, and each bracket having a bearing at the other end thereof, a presser roller journaled in said bearing above said smooth roller and on an axis substantially parallel thereto, the space above said presser roller being clear to give the operator standing in front of said rollers free access over said presser roller to the rear of said rollers and into the interior of said soaping container, means to rotate said driven roller to assist the operator n drawing the goods outwardly between said rollers, springs normally pressing against said brackets respectively and normally holding said presser roller spaced above said smooth roller, rods loosely connected to said brackets respectively and extending below said trough, a pedal connected to said rods and operable by the foot of the operator standing in front of said trough to hold the press-er roller pressed against the upper surface of the goods passing between said rollers.

3. In a soap expressing device adapted for use in connection with an elongated soaping container having a trough on the side thereof near the top of said container and provided with a drain to said container, the combination of a shaft mounted in said trough, a

driven roller mounted on said shaft and eX- tending substantially the full length of said trough, and means to continuously rotate said shaft and said roller carried thereby, a pair of compleinental brackets, loosely and pivotally mounted at opposite ends of said trough so that said brackets may be moved toward and away from said container and vertically with respect to said trough, bearings in each bracket, a shaft mounted in said bearings, a presser roller mounted on said shaft, springs pressing upwardly on said brackets to normally hold said presser roller spaced from said driven roller, foot operated means connected to'said brackets for drawing said presser roller into engagement witlr goods passing between said rollers, the said loose pivotal mounting of said brackets pro-; viding limitedv independent movement of each bracket withrespect to the other, where by said presser roller may conform to and rest against the upper surfaceof the goods drawirbetweensaid'rollers when the thickiiess of the'goodsatthe opposite'side edges:

thereof varies,- a pair of complemental guard plates, each looselysupported on the end of the shaft of said driven roller and having a slot extending upwardly from the lower edge thereof in which rotatesthe shaft of the said driven roller anda substantially vertical slot extending downwardly in each plate from the upper edge thereof and in which the shaft of the saidpresser roller ro- V tates, said plates being each provided with a flange extending inwardly toward the mid die of the rollers and positioned between said container and the ends of said rollers to prevent the goods from spreading beyond the ends of said rollers.

4. In a soap expressing device adapted for use in connection with asoapingcasinghaving' an opening thereinto extending substantially the full length of said casing and a trough mounted onthe outside of said casing extending for the full length of said opening, the top-of said trough being substantially at the level of the lower edge of said opening, the

combination of a shaft mounted in said trough, a driven roller'mounted on said shaft and extending V for substantially the full length of said trough, means to continuously rotate said shaft and said roller carried there 1 by, a pair of complemental brackets loosely and pivotally mounted on the opposite end walls of said trough so that said brackets may move toward and awayfromsaidcasingand also vertically with respect to said trough',a cylindrical bearing ineach bracket, a shaft mounted in said bearings, a presserroller mounted on said shaft, springs pressing upwardly against said brackets to, normally hold said presser roller spaced from said driven roller, foot'operat-ed means connected to said brackets for drawing said presser roller into engagement with goods drawn between said rollers, said loose pivotal mounting of said brackets providing limited independent movement of eachbracket with respect to the other bracket, a pair of complemental guard plates each mountedv on the end of the shaft of the driven roller respectively and having a slot extending upwardly from the lower edge thereof in which the shaft of said lower roller turns and a substantially vertical slot extending downwardly from the upper edge thereof in which the shaft of said upper roller turns, said plates being each provided with a flange extending inwardly toward the middle of said rollers andpositioned between said casing and the ends of said rollers to'prevent'the goods'from spreading materially beyond the endsvof said rollers and resilient means also between said casing and the ends of said rollersto yieldingly engage theoppositeedges of the goods passing between said rollers. I

o 75., In a soap expressing device adapted for use in connection with an elongated soaping container having an opening, near the top thereof, through which the goods are placed in and are withdrawn from. said container, of a driven'roller mounted just below the upper edge, of said opening and extending for the, full length of said opening, means to drive said roller so that, its upper surface moves away from said opening, a presser roller above and parallel to said first mentioned roller, and over which. the operator may reach through "said opening, to theinterior of said container, and over whiohroller he may readily reach tothe rear sidesof said rollers to insert goods therebetween, bearings for the ends. of said presser roller, each of said bearings being movableupwardly and downwardly, forwardly and rearwardly substantially independently of the bearing at the other end a o of said shaft to permit the saidsecond roller' to conform to any unevenness ofthev goods in passing between said rollers, a pedal operable by the operator standing in front of said rollers, and connections between said pedal and said bearings whereby a downward pressure by the operator on said; pedal is oper-' ative to' draw said; presser roller into contact with the, upper surface of goods passing over said: drivingroller, and yielding means pressing upwardly against the bearings of said presser roller to normally hold .sai-d presser roller above, and spaced from said driven roller. 5 .7 Q

Inwitness whereof, I-have hereunto setimy hand this first day of April, 1929.

enonen" WOELFEL. 

